The Gongwangfu Museum on the south bank of Houhai in Shichahai, Beijing, will welcome an endless stream of visitors even if it is not a holiday. Young people visit Prince Gong's Mansion and have some unique "strategies": cosplay in the filming locations of classic TV dramas, and go to the exhibition hall to collect stamps and check in; Some went straight to the "food gift shop" as soon as they entered the door, bought a best-selling Wanfu signed creative biscuit, and pulled out one from the biscuit box made into a stick, and the biscuit was written "with the person you like", and the mood instantly improved.
The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" deliberated and adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to deepen the reform of the cultural system and mechanism, "It is necessary to enhance cultural self-confidence, develop advanced socialist culture, carry forward revolutionary culture, and inherit the excellent traditional Chinese culture."
Museums are important carriers for inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Visiting museums has become a cultural habit for young people, which is not only a cultural need, but also a cultural consciousness.
Recently, a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network visited some museums, from exhibitions to cultural creativity to cultural and tourism integration, trying to spell out an answer to a question from the oral accounts of many young museum people: young people are more and more fond of visiting museums, what are museums doing right?
With the integration of technology and art, young people prefer to "participate" in exhibitions
No matter how many ways the museum plays, the exhibition is still the "main force" that attracts the audience. How to run exhibitions, especially those that attract young audiences? Zhou Wang, deputy research librarian of the exhibition department of Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, and Yan Yuexin, librarian of the collection research department, both believe that in-depth historical and cultural research provides academic support for the exhibition, attaches importance to creative planning and theme design, and gives full play to the advantages of digital display and interaction.
According to Zhou Wang, the Palace Museum and the Gongwangfu Museum have a deep historical relationship, and the Qing Dynasty's Gulun and Xiao Princesses, Prince Qing, and Prince Gong all lived in the Gongwangfu after they became adults. As a result, the two museums co-sponsored the "Qing Dynasty Palace Juvenile Life Cultural Relics Exhibition", which vividly displayed the juvenile life of the royal children of the Qing Dynasty through more than 100 pieces of fine cultural relics.
The use of digital media, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies in the exhibition has gradually become the norm, and the museum people have begun to try more immersive methods.
Wang Yanda, a librarian from the comprehensive business department of Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, said: "Many of the intangible cultural heritage exhibitions we hold have set up experiential content, such as embroidery, blue calico printing and dyeing, shadow puppetry, Chinese paper-cutting, Pu'er tea making, woodblock New Year paintings and other skill experiences, and intangible cultural heritage inheritors have personally guided them on site. This kind of face-to-face learning and practice can enhance young people's understanding of traditional Chinese culture. ”
The "Chinese Traditional Architectural Model Making Skills Exhibition" is also equipped with an immersive sitcom, which is based on the China Construction Institute represented by Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin to conduct research and mapping in Prince Gong's Mansion. "Melodrama creates an all-encompassing sensory experience, allowing the audience to no longer watch passively, but become part of the story and participate in the living presentation of cultural heritage," Wang said. ”
Cultural creativity is close to the preferences and needs of young people
After visiting the exhibition, buying cultural creativity has become the standard for young people to visit museums. The Blessing Full Series Stamp Book (Lucky Beast) was launched for 5 days, and 1,000 copies were sold out; Fuqing Youyu series of refrigerator magnets and bags are all star products in the "Qu Gongbo" cultural and creative store.
"Young people are the main consumer force of cultural creativity in museums, and we also consider the preferences and needs of this group in the visual and gameplay design of cultural and creative activities." Meng Wenli, deputy research librarian of the Management Office of Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, said that visually, the designers tried to use more bright and bright colors to present traditional patterns, such as the "animal face tile" satchel, which uses pink as the main color and adds blue-green to form a contrasting effect; Add more interaction in the gameplay, such as the metal refrigerator magnet "Tim Fu Longevity", the Fu and Shou characters on the bucket side can be disassembled and assembled, and the Shou character pattern in the "Five Blessings and Shou" can be rotated.
The Yunhua Bun in Prince Gong's Mansion is a waterside hut, which was once a place for the owner to enjoy the fish and watch the mountains; Today, it is one of the favorite cultural and creative shops for young people to visit in the Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, mainly engaged in jewelry, and its operating income reached one million yuan during the Spring Festival this year.
In recent years, the museum's popular cultural and creative products have been emerging. The "Horse Riding Feiyan" cultural and creative doll developed by the Gansu Provincial Museum in 2022 quickly went out of the circle with its "ugly and cute" shape, with sales of nearly 700,000 yuan a day. The National Museum of China staged the "Bronze Awakening" with the trendy toy mecha created by the Four Sheep Fangzun and the "Good Woman" Owl Zun. There are also Wu Wangfucha swords, which are the main "contrasting cute" in Suzhou Museum, and archaeological blind boxes in Henan Museum, which are loved by many young people.
If exhibitions are the 1.0 era of museums and cultural creativity is the 2.0 era, then the development of museum IP has entered the 3.0 era. "Xiaofu Family" is the 4 IP images that will appear in the Spring Festival in 2023 - Gong Xiaofu, Gong Xiaozhu, Gong Da Meow, and Grandpa Bat, each corresponding to the different characteristics of Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, telling historical and cultural stories in the form of a series of strips.
The museum's "digital human" IP has also met with the audience. "Ai Wenwen" of the National Museum of China, with a complete set of characters, came to the museum from the campus; The "Jinghui" of the Capital Museum can talk about the history of the ancient capital of Beijing; The "No. 5 commentator" of the Changchun Puppet Manchurian Palace Museum tells the story of Pu Yi and can also achieve real-time interaction.
Modern language realizes the dialogue between ancient and modern, creating a "life circle" of museums
In the view of Feng Naien, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Prince Gong's Mansion Museum, the attraction between the museum and young people is mutual and fluid, "The museum's own concept, positioning and operation model, in line with the trend and trend of the times, and positive changes, will attract more and more young people to enter the museum and fall in love with the museum; The needs and passions of young people are also encouraging and pushing museums to transform at a faster pace and bring more new experiences and feelings."
"We put forward the slogan 'My Territory, You Decide', so that the culture carried by the museum and its inheritance path are no longer limited to the museum, nor are they limited to traditional products, but cooperate with the society. For example, 'people outside the museum' were invited to curate the exhibition according to their understanding of Prince Gong's Mansion, many of whom were young people. Feng Naien hopes that when young people come to the museum, they can experience the warm living space and feel the traditional cultural life, so that the excellent traditional Chinese culture will be imperceptibly rooted in the hearts of the people.
The museum carries a long and profound history, and it enters the daily life of young people in an accessible manner. At the 2024 Beijing Cultural Forum, Wu Zhihua, Director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, said that museums should explore the reasons why visitors come to visit museums, and use modern language to help people achieve dialogue between ancient and modern.
On September 25, at a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council, Liu Yang, director of the Department of Museums and Social Cultural Relics of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, introduced that as of the end of August this year, the 6,833 museums officially registered across the country had received 940 million visitors, of which 299 million were received in the two months of summer. "These data show that the public demand for high-quality cultural products is increasing, and the demands on our work are also increasing."
Liu Yang said that among them, building a "museum around you" is a direction of efforts: using new technologies and new means to develop "cloud exhibitions", "cloud education" and "cloud live broadcasts", and create a new curatorial model that combines online and offline; At the same time, through the museum into the community and campus, we will create a mobile museum, and strive to build a museum "life circle" that is compatible with economic and social development and the public's needs for a better life, so as to open up the "last mile" of cultural supply.
This "last mile" requires the audience to walk into the museum, and the museum needs to walk out of the building.
During the National Day holiday, museums are still a popular check-in place in a city. Xie Xiaoting, director of the Suzhou Museum, said that with the help of the spillover effect of the museum, the museum has launched a Suzhou travel book, recommending other types of museums within 3 kilometers and the next destination, so as to promote the development of scenic spots around the museum.
A museum "life circle" is being established, entering the daily life of young people, but also into the hearts of young people.
China Youth Daily · China Youth Network reporter Jiang Xiaobin Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily